As is well known, most vehicles are appointed with carpet about the passenger and trunk compartments. This carpet is typically precut to a desired shape, which corresponds to a desired coverage area in the vehicle. The carpet typically includes a plurality of locating holes to enable the carpet to be quickly positioned within the vehicles. These locating holes formed in the carpet correspond to a plurality of holes formed in the floorboard of the vehicle, which together define an aligned hole for receiving a carpet-fastening device.
In many current vehicle designs, such as minivans, rear seating in the vehicle is adapted to be removably secured to a support structure, or dogbone, formed in the floorboard of the vehicle. Consequently, the carpet is cut to enable the support structure to protrude therethrough and a cover plate, or escutcheon, is fastened over the support structure to provide an aesthetic finish.
In known designs, the carpet is first attached to the floorboard of the vehicle by inserting the carpet-fastening device through the previously aligned holes formed in the carpet and the floorboard. Preferably, these holes are located adjacent to the support structure to enable the holes and fastening device to be concealed under the cover plate for an improved aesthetic quality. Thus, the cover plate is positioned over the support structure and is extended a length over the carpet-fastening device. The cover plate currently must extend an additional length past the carpet-fastening device in order to provide a location in which a cover plate fastener may attach the cover plate to the floorboard of the vehicle.
However, it should be appreciated to one skilled in the art that this additional length of the cover plate is disadvantageous for various reasons. For example, the additional length of the cover plate requires additional material to form the cover plate; thus, the cost of manufacturing the cover plate is increased. Additionally, the use of two fastening devices (i.e. carpet fastening device and cover plate fastener) increases the assembly time and further increases the manufacturing cost of the assembly. Still further, the additional length of the cover plate may detract from the aesthetic quality of the vehicle.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the relevant art to provide a method and apparatus for installing carpet in a vehicle capable of locating and retaining the carpet and cover plate using a single device, which reduces the manufacturing cost and assembly time of the carpet installation.